love ain't | nolan patrick

3 : knight in shining armor

Alexa

"Hey, what are you doing tonight? Wanna grab some dinner?" Nolan asked after I greeted him through the phone.

"Trust me, I'd love to, but I have a date with Collin. I'm afraid that if I don't give him some attention he'll flip his shit," I explained.

"Well, if anything happens, let Mary Jane know that I'm a phone call away," He responded protectively.

"Hey, I'm a big girl. I could throw a punch or two if I needed to."

"The goal here is for you to not need to, okay? I don't know I just get bad vibes from him."

"I know you do. I've been trying for six months to change your mind. You're a tough cookie to crack," I played, toying with the hem of my quilt.

Most of the time when Nolan and I talk, we're just joking and playing around, but there's always some truth behind what we say. Like right now, he's playing around with me, but I know that what he's saying is what he means. That's why we get along so well. We can communicate during serious situations light-heartedly.

We've almost never fight, the one time we did was because I beat him in a skating competition over who had to shovel my driveway. Back then he didn't have crazy muscular quads and hadn't even started in the junior league.

"I try my best," I could hear his stupid smirk through the phone, "But, anyway, have fun tonight. Please call me if you need anything."

"Will do. Love you," I said, exhaling.

"I love you, too, Lex."

——

I went out today and bought a new dress for the date, just because I feel like I've worn out every dress I own and I thought I'd spice it up a bit. This dress cost more than I wanted it to, but I fell in love with it when I saw it on the rack.

It was a silk, royal blue cocktail dress. It was a pretty tight fit but nothing I wasn't comfortable walking around in. I put on some black pumps and grabbed my clutch, making my way out to the street where my Uber was waiting.

The ride was short, the restaurant only being a few blocks from my house. Collin asked me to meet him here at seven. It was five past seven but I wouldn't exactly say Collin is an on time person.

I sat myself on the wooden bench outside the Italian restaurant we had planned on meeting at, just causally scrolling through my Instagram feed and responding to Snapchats.

Before I even realized fifteen minutes had passed, "Hey, Col. I'm waiting here at the restaurant. It's okay if you forgot, just call me back whenever you get this. Love you."

I waited another ten minutes for him to call me back, but it was radio silence. I sighed in defeat, pulling up Nolan's contact, my finger hovering over the phone icon.

He said to call, and I know he meant it, but the second he picks me up I'm going to be lectured. Sure, I know he's right and probably deserve it but I don't like to be wrong. But, I swallowed my pride.

"Alexa?"

"Hey, could you come pick me up from La Strada? Collin's not picking up his phone and it's been like thirty minutes," I explained shamefully.

Nolan sighed, "I'll be there in ten minutes."

Sure enough, within ten minutes I saw Nolan's black car pulling up on the street. I kept my head down, pulling open the car door and climbing in silently.

"What's Chief Keef's excuse this time?" Nolan asked, rather passive aggressively.

"Not sure yet. He won't pick up his phone," I responded timidly.

"You gotta stop with this, Lex. How many times have I had to pick you up from random ass restaurants that Collin ditches you at? When are you going to open your eyes? He's bad for you and I'm sick of seeing him treat you like this."

I sat in the passenger seat chewing on my bottom lip, deciding how I should retaliate, or rather if I should retaliate.

"I know, I know," I said, "I just can't break up with him. He may seem like a narcissistic asshole but he's really sensitive."

"This isn't about his fragile ego. This is about the fact that he's taking advantage of you. He knows that you'll never break up with him because you're too fucking nice," Nolan said angrily, gripping the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles began to turn white.

"I just care about him. I know that he doesn't treat me as well as he could but it's just his personality."

"Don't blame manipulation on his shitty personality. The shit you tell me about him makes him sound like you should hate him. This is healthy, Alexa."

Just then, my phone started ringing, Collin's name popping up with the profile picture I had set for him. It was picture I took when we first started dating, before we hit bumps in the road. It was one of my favorite pictures of him, he was smiling bigger than ever while his hand stretched out, holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Hello?"

"Hey, babe. Sorry I missed your call, I was smoking a blunt and must have dozed off. Are you still there? I could meet you there in like thirty minutes?" Collin said. I thought maybe when he finally called back he would have some sort of remorse in his voice for letting me sit all alone on a busy street. But, he was as cold as ever.

"No, we probably lost the reservation anyway. I'll just talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"You don't wanna come over? We could—"

"No, I'm with Nolan right now. I'll just text you tomorrow," I said sharply, regretting it the second it left my mouth.

"Oh, of course you're with Nolan. He's always your little knight in shining armor. Why don't you just text me whenever you guys are done fucking each other and we'll talk then."

"I cannot believe you just said that. Fuck you and your fucked up head. Don't even text me tomorrow. Bye, Collin."

I angrily shut off my phone and diverted my eyes to the road ahead.

"Nol, you just passed my house."

"I know," He started, "You're sleeping over at my place tonight. I don't want his psycho ass accidentally stumbling into your house and accidentally hurting you," Nolan demanded sternly.

"He would never."

"I'm not sure I believe that."

——

oooo tea

i don't even know what this is lmao happy easter and happy late 420